Only duly elected cooperative society managing committee members qualify for inclusion in APMC voters’ lists.

The petitioners, agriculturists with land in the Bhabhar APMC market area, objected to the inclusion of members of respondent No. 5 Primary Co-operative Society in the APMC voters’ list, contending that its 21-member Managing Committee was not lawfully constituted and its members were not qualified voters

The Society’s earlier committee had been constituted in 2022 for a five-year term ending in June 2027.

Although the Society’s bye-laws were amended to permit a 21-member committee in 2024, a new committee was constituted in June 2026—before the earlier term expired—and the members were selected rather than elected

The Authorized Officer rejected the objections, and the petitioners challenged that decision under Article 226.

The High Court heard the petitions together and stayed declaration of the election results pending its decision

1. Whether the Authorized Officer, when preparing the APMC voters’ list, may conduct a summary inquiry into whether the persons forwarded by a primary co-operative society are legally qualified members of its Managing Committee and were elected to it

2. Whether the petitioners had standing, and whether the availability of an election petition under Rule 28 barred the High Court from entertaining the writ petitions

3. Whether the circumstances justified quashing the Authorized Officer’s decision and excluding the Society’s committee members from the voters’ list

Section 11(1)(i) of the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1963 provides for the inclusion in the relevant APMC constituency of elected members of the Managing Committees of qualifying co-operative societies; Sections 74(1A) and 74(1C) of the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 govern committee composition and the five-year term of elected members

Rules 5–8 of the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Rules, 1965 govern voters’ lists and authorize the Authorized Officer to make an inquiry when preparing or revising them; that inquiry is summary, but must address the minimum facts necessary to establish voter eligibility and cannot be merely cursory

Although Rule 28 provides an election-petition remedy and disputes about voters’ lists ordinarily belong there, Article 226 may be invoked in exceptional circumstances, including where the statutory authority has acted contrary to law

The Court applied Mandropur (Fatehpur) Juth Seva Sahkari Mandali Ltd. v. State of Gujarat and the Division Bench decision affirming it, which recognize the Officer’s power to make a limited factual inquiry into whether proposed voters are elected members, while leaving the legality of a contested internal election to the appropriate forum

It also relied on Daheda Group Seva Sahakari Mandali Ltd. v. R.D. Rohit and Ishwarbhai Narayanbhai Patel v. State of Gujarat on the ordinary preference for the statutory election remedy and the exception for extraordinary circumstances

The petitioners had standing because they were agriculturists in the APMC market area, had objected through the statutory voters’-list process, and were aggrieved by the rejection of those objections

Although the Authorized Officer’s inquiry was summary and did not permit a full adjudication of the Society’s internal election disputes, the Officer was required to check the foundational fact that the persons listed were elected committee members

The record showed that the 2026 committee was constituted before the existing committee’s five-year term expired, and that its members were selected rather than elected.

The Officer nevertheless declined to examine these facts, referring the objectors to the co-operative-law forum

Because election—not selection—was required under the governing provisions, the proposed members did not qualify for inclusion under Section 11(1)(i).

The apparent disregard of these undisputed foundational facts constituted an exceptional circumstance warranting writ intervention despite the Rule 28 remedy

It further directed the Authorized Officer to proceed with declaration of the election results accordingly